Shutterstock | Get Paid For Photography

One of the most famous source of passive income for photographers is available for everyone owning a smartphone. So even if you have an android or iPhone in your hand, you can make a few extra bucks. Starting from getting 25 cents a month, you can get up to hundreds of dollars monthly if you learn the tricks of the trade. Let’s show you how you can do the magic!

First, you should be aware of an easy-to-follow best practice for ensuring success. By bearing these in mind, you stand high chances of significant numbers of downloads. Let’s ensure your steady flows of income now!

Money talks

Earnings Breakdown

For a variety of image types you can gain several different sort of commissions. The table below summed it up:

Your Lifetime Earnings*

Monthly
Subscriber
Image**

On Demand Image**
(Sml / Med)

On Demand Image**
(Any Size)

Enhanced License Image**

Footage Clip

$0 – $500

$0.25

$0.81

$1.88

20% (max. $80)

30%

$500 – $3,000

$0.33

$1.07

$2.48

25% (max.$100)

30%

$3,000 – $10,000

$0.36

$1.17

$2.70

28% (max.$112)

30%

$10,000+

$0.38

$1.24

$2.85

30% (max.$120)

30%

* As your lifetime earnings increase, the amount you earn per download increases, too.** Images include photos, vectors and illustrations.

Commission varieties

These websites apply various prices for your uploaded intellectual properties. This is a shortlist for different types of downloads.

25 Cents | 25-38 cent – The most basic subscription option is the monthly one. Customers pay for monthly fee in return they can download plentiful images. If a subscriber downloads your IP, then your reward is 25 cents. In case of growing popularity the highest rate of this sort of revenue has a maximum level of 38 cent.

Referral program| 20% – As many online marketing platforms, these photo sharing websites also rewards customers who encourage other soon-to-be customers in an affiliate method with a 20% referral commission.

Click To Buy| 20% – If a customer who purchases your IP does not have any subscription, then 20% of the sale price is yours as commission.

On Demand | $1.88 – Sales of IP by On Demand subscribers provides you with a hefty $1.88 commission. This model provides the subscriber with 1 year long usage license.

Commission Payout

⏱️ Two weeks payment period – The process of payment initiates on the first day of each month in case of exceeded thresholds. After the calculation ends, the delivery of payment reaches its target after two weeks.

💳 Four type of payout – The main reason you are uploading your IP is to gather a sweet sum of commission. To move your electronic commission money into your pocket, here is what options you have. For all payout method the maximum amount is $2000.

PayPal | $35 – The minimum requirement for your payment in regard to PayPal option is to have at least a total balance of $35+.

Skrill | $35 – Being an electronic payment like PayPal, the same conditions apply, so make sure to reach a commission level of $35+.

Bank Check | $300 – As this option tends to be the oldest category, your total balance needs to exceed the threshold of $300.

Payoneer | $35 – Being an electronic payment like PayPal, the same conditions apply, so make sure to reach a commission level of $35+.

Technical Details

There are three types of data forms you can upload to these usual sharing websites. The following paragraphs include restrictions posed upon all of them.

📷 Photo – The format needs to be JPEG, and the resolution requirement is minimum 4 megapixels, however any smartphone nowadays have 12 MPs.

📹 Video – The format here is not specified, the only restriction is the length of the clip, which has to be between 5 to 60 seconds.

🌀 Conception and Formation – The format needs to be EPS with a maximum resolution of 15 MPs or JPEG format with a minimum of 4MPs.

Explore your Competition

Get Updated Information – Use Shutterstock galleries to explore your main photo topics. Firstly, you get to know the competition, which will force you to level up your game by putting in more efforts. Moreover, by analysing vast amount of thematically similar pictures, you can orchestrate your trademark shots. Your style is about to get manifested.

Frequency is key

Distribute your upload dates evenly – You should be aware that uploading all your photos once will benefit you on the short term only. As other contributors upload new photos, yours will be found in order in the older sets. Ideally, you can upload highly numbered sets of photos each month. Make sure to schedule this task in your calendar, and set reminders in case you wanted to shoot some frames before uploading your set.

Global trends

Surfing the trend wave – If you established an upload regiment, you should lean on the key trends in the industry, and take photos in a planned manner. Then, you can upload them strategically by giving your full attention to the trends, so your customers can find the latest fashion let it be some composition, location or style.

I hope these advices helped you to get starter. So now get outside and let’s ignite your passive income as a photographer.